Surat: Singanpor police arrested a 28-year-old occultist for allegedly raping a 26-year-old married woman, whom he had met at a religious event. The occultist called her to a city hotel for ‘darshan of goddess’, where she was sedated using prasad. The accused allegedly raped her and shot a nude video after she lost consciousness. The video was used to blackmail and repeatedly rape the woman in the hotel for a period of almost one year.According to case details, accused Naresh Chauhan alias Naresh Bhuva was invited to a religious programme by the survivor’s relative in 2024. The survivor was introduced to Chauhan during the programme, following which they started talking. The occultist lured the survivor to Yog hotel in Singanpor area back in April 2025, where the crime was committed. The accused clicked nude pictures after the rape and further shot a video which was used to blackmail and rape the survivor many times.Chauhan further threatened to kill the woman if she revealed about the crime to anyone. Based on her complaint, Singanpor police booked the accused for rape, criminal intimidation under BNS and arrested him. Cops are also investigating other such instances of rape allegedly committed by Chauhan. According to police officials, Chauhan is married and lives in Surat’s Amroli area with his family.
